Indianapolis-based truckload conglomerate Celadon Group said its revenues and profits increased during the third quarter of fiscal 2005, with operating revenues increasing 9.8% to $108.5 million and net income increasing to $2.7 million from $1.4 million compared to the same period during fiscal 2004.
For the first nine months of fiscal 2005, Celadon said its operating revenue increased 9.7% to $319.8 million, with net income rising to $8.3 million from a loss of $2.6 million compared to fiscal 2004.
Chairman & CEO Steve Russell said that the carrier’s effort to create a more diverse pool of freight from a wider mix of customers played a major role in keeping revenues and profits up during March, which is typically the slowest freight month of any year.
“We diligently shifted to a broader mix of freight, which has resulted in no single customer representing more than 5% of our revenue,” he said. “Revenue with our largest customer was reduced by over 50% compared to March 2004 and, excluding this customer, revenue from all other customers increased by 16%.”
Russell added that Celadon has been able to generate rate increases through a better mix of freight and customer specific rate increases, while average revenue per total mile increased 7.5% to $1.324 from $1.232 during fiscal 2004. Though Celadon’s fuel costs increased by over 45 cents per gallon, he said the company offset higher fuel costs via its fuel surcharge structure.
